Raphael, it was a surprise for everyone watching to see you start against Manchester City instead of Ramos. Was it for you?

It was a surprise. But not completely because the boss spoke to me on Sunday and prepared me for this eventuality. Mourinho asked me if I felt ready for this match. Of course I told him I did. He asked me to be very focused on the game against City.

It wasn’t too stressful, having to play in a match as important as Tuesday’s?

There was definitely a lot of pressure, but I felt good for the 90 minutes. Collectively, we showed we’re a very solid group and we were able to react after City went ahead twice. That shows our mental strength, especially in the last stages of the game.

You played the most important match of your career. How was the experience?

I had to throw myself in at the deep end against Manchester City. To grow you’ve got to play matches like this one. I’d been looking forward to playing one of these big games for a while; the ones that mark a stage in the career of a footballer, and I had the opportunity! I tried to do what I knew and it turned out well.

Do you think that with your work against Manchester City, you’ve taken a step forward in your growth as a player?

When I think about those 90 minutes in the Champions League, I only see positive things. I think that this game had launched this year for me. It’s also given a boost to the team’s season. It’s going to give a lot of positivity to everybody.

It seems that that positivity was needed about the bad start to the Liga…

When a team isn’t winning, it’s understandable that there are internal tensions. Now we have to back-up this great night with more wins.

Here at AS we revealed that you were a little down in recent weeks because you weren’t playing. Do you feel better now?

There are moments in the life of a man and of a football player when you don’t feel as good as usual. That’s what happens. The boss knew about it but didn’t lose the trust he had in me. Everything is very clear with Mourinho. I didn’t play until now because I didn’t have a great pre-season. The two matches with the France under-21 team and this one against Manchester City will give me a lot of motivation. They’ve given me back the belief.